Shocking Sheffield car crash film premiere

A GROUP of teenagers have appeared in a hard-hitting new film about the horrors of car crashes commissioned after six young people died on South Yorkshire’s roads in just weeks.

Collision will be shown in schools nationwide in a bid to cut deaths and injuries on the roads and promote responsible driving.

It was commissioned by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service.

Jonathan Scott and Robert Tepper, both aged 17, and Lauren Birkett, 16, died after the Vauxhall Corsa they were travelling in hit an oncoming car on Adwick Road, Mexborough, in December 2010.

Michael Gallagher, 16, Tom Hughes, 15, and Antonia Browne, 14, died after their car hit a tree in Conisbrough – just four miles from the scene of the Mexborough crash – in January 2011.

The film, made by Sheffield web design firm Lime, was launched at Sheffield Hallam University and attended by the cast, new Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright and Fire Authority chairman Jim Andrews.

The cast, aged 16 to 20, from South Yorkshire, think it will help drive home the road safety message in local schools.

Tom Hadfield, 19, of Rotherham, who plays Sean, driver of a car involved in a crash in the film, said: “It shocked me seeing how dangerous things can be and the other factors involved in driving. It’s not just that you’re on the road – there are stories that lead to the crash.”

“I drive myself, and I know the bad habits I’ve got into just from driving for a year. If I’d have been shown something like this at school, it might have shocked me into being more careful.”